One of the zillion issues that has been discussed in this election, other than Donald Trump's penis size, has been our crumbling infrastructure. Many of our bridges and roads are old and dilapidated, and need to be fixed. Our highway system, which has been part of what has made America such a global power, is becoming older, and in need of repair and expansion. Eventually, our government will have to reach a compromise and create a bill that will improve our aging highway system and infrastructure. There is one part that needs to be looked at, and it involves a form of transportation that we have largely forgotten about: Trains.

Trains became popular during the boom of the Industrial Revolution. Companies with larger amounts of inventory than ever before began to ponder ways to move products around faster and more efficiently. Before cars, their first solutions was trains. By the beginning of the twentieth century, trains could get you nearly anywhere that you wanted, and were a very efficient way of shipping people and products. Once cars began to become popular in the 1900's though, most individuals shifted towards them, leaving private railroad companies in complete disarray. While we were creating one of the most immense road grids in the world, we largely forgot about using railroads. By the 1960’s, most private railroads had either shut down or were on the brink of ruin. In 1971, during the American Train Dark Ages, the United States created Amtrak. Most of the lines connect major cities in our country, and move below one hundred miles hours per hour. Amtrak has attempted to make two major high speed railways: one connecting major east coast cities, and another connecting the major hubs of California. The former route was completed, but was slower than what was previously projected. The California route took years to be processed and approved, and it is hoped that the line will be completed by 2029.

Our current rail system today is pathetic, partially due to the fact that we are a first world country. The majority of the lines are run by Amtrak, which is a government run rail system. Unfortunately, Amtrak has been underfunded for years by the federal government, which has led Amtrak to be one of the most dated national train systems in the first world. This led to numerous crashes on Amtrak rides over the past couple years, including a derailment in Philadelphia that occurred in May of 2015. The derailment killed eight people, and injured over a hundred. This event caused many skeptics to question the funding of Amtrak, and if we should scrap it all together. This conclusion is silly and nonsensical; We need a strong and fast national rail system that will connect travelers from one part of the country to the other. This is where Amtrak's problems currently are: they are old, there are too few routes, and are way slow. Amtrak's trains are very dated, and due to that, are far behind in speed and luxury that other countries have. Below is a picture of Amtrak's current lines, in which most of them are not high speed.

Another frustration with Amtrak is the way they board passengers. For most trains around the world, people usually are allowed to board the train freely, and tickets are usually checked on the ride. On Amtrak stops in major cities, entering the train is set up as a gigantic line, similar to the process set p in airports across America. This makes getting on the train a lot longer, and as most airport lines, it is an incredibly tedious process.

So, as Bernie Sanders says, here is a “radical idea”: Along with strengthening our highway system, lets expand and make America great again in terms of rail transportation. First world countries around the world, such as many in Europe, China and Japan, realize the importance of having a massive and fast fleet of trains across their landscapes. In May, I got the opportunity to travel to Scandinavia. Throughout my visit, I was amazed at the accessibility of their rail systems, as there are stations in most towns in the separate countries. Each city that I visited had train routes that took passengers from the airport into the center of downtown, which is a relatively new and foreign idea to most American cities. Another amazing innovation that has occurred in the rail industry in the introduction of the bullet trains in Japan and China. Many of these trains can reach speeds of over two hundred miles per hour, which is far beyond what we have been able to accomplish in the United States. Currently, our fastest train is the previously mentioned Acela Express, which connects the major cities on the East Coast. It’s top speed is one hundred and fifty miles per hour, but it only reaches this speed for a few miles, and its average speed is around 68 mph, far below the power of most high speed trains.

Here are the key steps that America needs to make to its rail system one of the best in the world: It needs Amtrak to build a faster fleet, and create more routes and stops across the country. The key for Amtrak has to be making train travel accessible and fast; as it could possibly serve as an alternative to driving or flying. This would require a large amount of government spending, which in turn, would also means higher taxes. Although this may be a nuisance and a pain for our citizens, it should be recognized that these dollars are going towards a project that would revitalize our transportation industry.

The second thing we should look for is new private companies that are interested in bringing new rail routes throughout the country. Private trains systems could connect regional towns and destinations, while Amtrak could connect these smaller fleets to our major cities.

Also, one project to keep an eye on is the Hyperloop, a new transportation system created by Elon Musk. Top speeds of the capsule could be around seven hundred and sixty miles per hour, which would far beyond what current trains can reach. The United States should invest and subsidize projects like these in order to bring back the glory days of trains and railroads to America.